Granted. Many people think budgeting as restrictive and boring. But in reality, it’s the opposite. Budgeting is actually very freeing. It puts you back in control of your money and it finds extra cash.

It’s almost like treasure hunting in your own monthly finances.

Budgeting and looking at your own expenses reveals careless spendings you can cut.

It’s actually pretty gratifying to see how much you can already save by finding those lose money.

Working your budget and seeing money leftover at the end of the month is also liberating.

Not to mention, budgeting is about setting a priority in life. So following it on a monthly basis ensures that your needs and wants are being met to the fullest extent.

If you are ready to go money hunting with me to start saving for special something, let’s get started.

1. Write Down Your Expenses

The first step is to write down your expenses. In this step, you’ll find if there is any waste in your monthly spendings. Remember, the money you are currently wasting will be put into savings at the end of this process. So more wasted areas you can find, more money you can put away and faster your savings grow.

You are going to need a pen and paper for this.

You can use my expense list for this step or you can start from scratch on a piece of paper. Whatever works for you is fine.

Once you are ready, write down all your monthly spendings.

To do this, gather up your receipts and monthly bank and credit card statements.

If you use cash for purchases and don’t have receipts, start writing down every time you buy something.

No matter how small or insignificant it looks, write it down.

When you write down each of your purchase, write down its date, amount, and description.

Just by reviewing your expenses one by one has its own merit. It’s how you spot careless spendings.

During this process, I found out about my $200 Dropbox yearly subscription I forgot to cancel. I also found an overcharged phone bill.

There are usually some unnecessary, wasteful spendings hidden somewhere.

After you have all your purchases, review them to spot unintentional, wasteful spendings. Mark or highlight them and total up those expenses.